Category Archives: Home & Real Estate

By Paul Post

A Westchester County couple wants to enjoy the Adirondacks without impacting its natural beauty.

Their forward-thinking dream home’s energy-efficient features are the perfect solution.

“I’ve been visiting the Adirondacks, skiing and hiking, since I was a kid,” said Bill Martimucci, a retired primary care physician. “We wanted to create a modern cabin in the woods and reviewed the whole concept of a passive home. We’re very excited about getting settled up there.”

“I feel like it’s our responsibility to take care of the Adirondacks,” his wife, Edie, said. “You’ve got to do it one piece of property at a time. If we’re going through the trouble of building, why not build something that goes into the future that deals with all the energy and environmental issues? Why would we build a house with concepts from the Sixties or Eighties with no insulation, no solar. This seemed to be the only sensible way to do this.”

Their 2,000-square-foot, 1.5-story home  in Brant Lake is nearly completed, built by Queensbury-based Hilltop Construction Company. Douglas fir was used to create attractive interior highlights such as a custom staircase, railings and cabinetry.

Plans call for using it as a year-round second home, possibly the couple’s permanent residence in future years.

The highly energy efficient house was designed by Cold Spring-based River Architects, which specializes in passive homes and commercial buildings.

It utilizes solar electricity with roof-mounted panels, and is connected to the grid, but goes much further than a regular passive solar home in regard to energy efficiency.

The five fundamental principles of passive house construction are continuous insulation, airtight construction, high-performance windows, heat recovery ventilation, and thermal-bridge-free design. These principles work together to minimize energy consumption by reducing heat loss and gain through the building envelope. 

By Rod Bacon

The advent of spring ushers in warmer weather and the promise of outdoor family gatherings. It also brings the annual invasion of pesky insects and other pests that can dampen the fun of such events. A business serving Warren and Saratoga counties in New York and parts of Western Vermont can ensure that these invaders are vanquished and the party can be one to remember fondly.

Started as a one-man shop in 2008, Hudson Falls-based Bug U Pest Control has grown to include eight technicians and a significant number of clients, many of whom have been utilizing its services since the beginning. 

“I started in the business in 1998 with a national pest control company,” said owner Brent Brewer. “That’s where I got my initial training, and I discovered I was good at it and enjoyed the work.”

While he and his team work year round, Brewer is coming into his busy season, which runs from April through October. He said warm weather brings out the pests most likely to concern homeowners and business people. These include mosquitoes, wasps, carpenter ants, termites, ticks and fleas.

The Bug U technicians use both traditional and eco-friendly products to deal with these intruders. According to Brewer, the traditional products that have been developed over the years are safe and last longer after application than those that are eco-friendly. He noted that some clients simply prefer the latter and there are situations where they are required. For example, if treatment is being done close to water or a runoff area eco-friendly products are required by law.

By Christine Graf  

For Arthur Zobel, owner of Zobel & Co. Kitchens in Glens Falls, designing kitchens is in his blood. His father was a kitchen designer, and Zobel starting working for him when he was a teenager. After his father retired, Zobel spent 32 years working as a kitchen designer in the New York City area. In 2018, he opened his boutique design shop and showroom at 11 Broad Street in Glens Falls.

“The majority of our business is kitchen remodels, and another portion of that is new builds,” said Ginny Brandreth, marketing director and office manager at Zobel & Co. Kitchens. “For us, it tends to be the second home market. We work with a more upscale market because our kitchen designs and cabinetry are custom.” 

In recent years, the company has seen an uptick in demand for outdoor kitchens. The demand has been so strong that the Zobel & Co. has dedicated part of its showroom to outdoor kitchens. Outdoor cabinetry differs in that it is made from materials that withstand extreme temperatures, and doors and drawers are gasketed to keep out snow and rain.  

By Christine Graf

For homeowners looking to save money on heating and cooling costs, heat pumps may be the answer. Heat pumps operate using electricity, extracting heat from outside, bringing it indoors to heat a home during winter. Conversely, the pumps move heat from indoors to outdoors during the summer.

Although heat pumps have been commercially available since the late 1940s, it wasn’t until the energy crisis of the 1970s that their popularity increased. As fuel prices skyrocketed, people looked for more cost-effective ways to heat and cool their homes. 

According to Craig MacDonald, owner of Suburban Services Group in Burnt Hills, heat pumps declined in popularity as fossil fuel heating equipment was mandated and engineered for much higher efficiency.  

“We’ve been installing heat pumps for 30 years, and most people remember that the old heat pumps blew cool air and were often inefficient compared to oil or propane heat. Over time, they fell out of favor as furnace technology improved.  But because of improvements in heat pump technology, today’s heat pumps are capable of heating many homes in cold climates.”

In recent years, heat pumps have been re-engineered, enabling them to recover significantly more heat from the outdoors. Unlike conventional heat pumps, these cold climate heat pumps are ideal for those living in Northern New York and New England.  

By Ryan McCall, Esq.

Property ownership in New York can be complicated, especially when you choose to rent or leave your property empty for extended periods of time throughout the year. Specifically, issues of squatter’s rights have recently come into the limelight, as many horror stories have surfaced across the country of homeowners returning from a long vacation only to find a complete stranger comfortably sprawled out about their house.

While property title claims are rare, many squatters have been abusing legal loopholes in recent years in New York, costing property owners lots of money in legal fees and living rent-free during the lengthy court eviction process, often with no repercussions for the alleged squatter.

In an effort to protect property owners from the recent rise in squatter cases, the New York legislature has been pushing to introduce new laws to help crack down on squatting and give New York property owners another avenue to protect their assets and investments by making squatting illegal and offering more ways for property owners to evict squatters.

In the meantime, what should renters be aware of when it comes to squatting and squatter’s rights in New York State and City? What avenues would a homeowner have to defend their property? While there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to dealing with delinquent tenants, understanding the basics of squatting in New York and what timeframes and information are needed to evict unwanted tenants is the best way to protect your property.

By Jill Nagy

EXIT Realty now has a Glens Falls office in addition to its Clifton Park and Hudson offices.

The real estate group held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Glens Falls office in February. But actually, the office had been open since June 2021. The event was delayed by the COVID pandemic. 

The Glens Falls branch is part of the regional franchise, EXIT Realty Empire Associates. The group’s headquarters is in Clifton Par. 

Jennifer Vucetic, principal broker and owner, said the company was doing so much business in the Lake George area, out of its Clifton Park office, they decided to open the new  office at 1 Lawrence St.

Empire Associates celebrate its fifth anniversary this summer. Vucetic has been in the real estate business since 2005.

Currently, there are 12 agents in the Glens Falls office. The core of the group is a team of agents headed by Bill Moon, who is also director of the board of the local Big Brothers and Sisters organization. The office occupies the first floor of a former pediatrics office.

The connection with Big Brothers and Sisters reflects the community service participation that is part of the DNA of both the national EXIT Realty International organization and the local franchise. A portion of every transaction fee received by the parent company is applied to its charitable fund, $7 million, to date, according to the company. 

By Susan Elise Campbell

Hotelier Robert Gregor has plans to transform two properties adjacent to one another on Lake Avenue and Canada Street so that year-round guests can enjoy the amenities of an Airbnb with the classic services of a hotel in one rental experience.

Gregor is a litigation attorney who splits his work week between home in Lake George and a firm in Ithaca. About 11 years ago he started purchasing motels in the community where he is raising his family.

The two properties are Lake Haven Motel and Motel Montreal, which Gregor describes as “mom and pop motels that have been good to me,” but which are “tired and typical.”

Lake Haven and Motel Montreal will be razed so that Gregor can create a single vacation resort out of the properties and their combined 1.58 acres. 

The first round of sketch plans will be presented to the local planning board and Gregor is prepared this spring to make his case for helping Lake George grow as a year-round destination with the construction of this project.

“I’m optimistic we have the right infrastructure to keep the drive for a year-round tourism industry going,” he said.

Gregor said it has been “a strong winter exceeding projections by about 25 percent” for his Sundowner Motel on Canada Street that he purchased in 2016.

By Steven Luttman

Few things warm my heart more than a trip to the Lake George outlets. 

Some might say cheap, others prefer “financially thoughtful,” but no matter what you call it I like finding a good deal. No doubt many of you feel the same way. Think for a moment about a purchase you’ve been considering recently. 

If this item were to become available for 79 percent less than its historical price how excited would that make you? That’s an amazing value. People line up hours in advance for Black Friday deals less great than this. But before you take out your wallet, what if at this exact same time last month the item could be had for 85 percent off. Given that the discount has shrunk, is it still attractive today? Of course, it’s a no brainer.   

Freddie Mac’s weekly lender survey found the average 30 year fixed rate mortgage  closed out the month of March at 4.67 percent, a sizable jump from the sub 3 percent we were seeing as recently as November. 

For anyone that’s been eyeing a home purchase or refinance it’s easy to think “I’ve dropped the ball here, rates are just way too high now”. With a short term perspective you wouldn’t be wrong. However if you were to line up the average rate for every single week over the past 50 years, rates are lower today than they’ve been for almost 80 percent of those data points since 1971.